Yōkai
by 13daydreams
Summary: When a hairdresser, Kou, died, he watched a civilian chef's life flash past before he is suddenly being thrust into the screen. Now in Konoha, he is the chef that he saw on screen. Although Kou has knowledge of the Naruto world, he doesn't plan on changing the plot nor interacting with any of the main characters. Yet he finds himself being drawn to Itachi. (Male OC X Itachi) YAOI
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: At this time frame, Kakashi would be around 16 years old and in ANBU while Itachi would be 8 years old and mastering the Sharigan. Naruto and Sasuke would be around 3 years old. Oh and this is yaoi...hehehe~~~**

 _Yōkai_

Kou sat blissfully in the hospital bed with his gnarly hands intertwined within his partner's hands. His breath coming out shorter and shorter, he could feel life slipping out of his hands. The hourglass that long held much of the sand particles was now losing its way into the bottom. Kou knew it was only a matter of time before the shadows that stared at him from the corners of his vision laid their claim.

"Daichi," he murmured. At this, a head full of the purest color of white rose up and stare intently at Kou. "I want to thank you for everything. Thank you for your love and your kindness. I am sincerely sorry for the times I acted selfish and left you behind. I now understand that happiness doesn't come from pursuing our own interests but from others. Please don't be sad when the time comes, otherwise your grieving will haunt me."

"Kou," Daichi replied softly. "Shut up will ya? I am trying to savor the moments and you gotta ruin in with the sob speech. Oh and you don't need to worry about that time you left me. I am pretty sure that was made up with all the beatings I gave you."

The only response was a chuckle from Kou who would never in this world, get over Daichi's sharp tongue. That man threw sass at everyone's face, be it his lover or his friends.

"Oh, and by the way, I won't grieve for you. I know you're content with things already as it is so I have no regrets letting you go. Just make sure you don't fall or trip when you're on the stairs to heaven. Oh and don't forget to go towards the light." Even though Daichi said this, his voice was shaky indicating his worry.

Pushing his head forward until Daichi forehead was touching against Kou, they both stayed silent, absorbing the little time they had left with each other. The machine for the heart monitor displayed a thin, green line that kept decreasing in its heights until it laid flat. The last moments was a shared kiss and the tightening of each others grip but the last words was a glimpse of each others mind.

"I love you."

...

The shadows murmur were getting louder and louder until finally, a pale hand silenced it with a wave of its hand. It collected the light gray orb glowing softly, pulling the murmuring shadows closer to it. The orb showed a life of content: freed of desire and chains that held the host down. Such color was gained only through crossing the path of suffering and realizing the simplicity behind life. The current orb was a refreshing change of pace from the dark, tainted gray orbs and the shadows wanted it oh so badly, to be one with the soul of the orb. But they were the tainted ones so they couldn't come any closer to the orb or else they would fade away into nothing.

The pale hands examined the light gray orb and caressed it softly. Such color were hard to find these days, it was usually a medium-dark shades of gray. It would be such a waste to eat the orb, oh no there were better uses for that orb. Twisting the thin lips into a soft smile, it covered the orb with a sheer fabric of strings and placed the orb into another jar of maroon orbs and inside an already breaking orb. It collected the host of the broken orb and placed him into a different jar. Perhaps, this was a bad idea- switching the orbs' origins. That orb didn't belong with the maroon orbs but it knew that sometimes, it was better to jump straight away rather than test the waters slowly. The humans were a good remainder of that, after all whose fault was it for providing metals that they sharpen into scissors which let them to cut the strings of fate.

For now, it can only hope that the host of the gray orb would lighten up the crimson color of some of the maroon orbs. Hopefully, it will find more orbs like that color soon and then, it can eat it with relish. It knew not to overeat, for these type of orbs were ones that balance the dark nature of other orbs and it was what kept humanity going on. Like yin and yang, each balance each other out and tamed the shadows.

So before it left to collect other orbs, it gave a wry smile and turned the hourglass, starting another life.

...

A flicker of static electricity woke Kou up from his slumber, before him laid a flat screen covering every aspect of his vision. He had been wandering the darkness for quite a time, rethinking of his past life and felt no regrets. He had found his source of happiness, Daichi. For that, he was content with life and felt no other desire perk him and was woken up from his slumber. Another flicker appeared starting the life of a young boy with thick, brown hair. Like a cinema, it started from the the boy's perspective.

At the beginning, Kou saw a mother and a father coo at him. Lightly squeezing his cheeks, the mother held a smile of affection. Feeling rough hands caress his head, Kou looked up and notice the father who beamed at him when he realized the baby was looking at him. Gurgling, Kou saw his hands make a closing motion and he squirmed to show his happiness. Smiling softly, the screen buzzed away to darkness as the boy fell asleep and Kou wondered of the boy's parents name.

Time passed and Kou caught a ride with the young boy named Kenji who was the second son to a woman named Kimiko and a man named Shin. They were both civilians in Konoha and worked as merchants. Imagine Kou surprise as he realized this took place from the manga, _Naruto it was called_ , he read with his partner. Kou had long forgotten his partner name but he couldn't forget the fondness of his heart and the familiar feeling of love. It was what made him realize that he _once_ had a life instead of watching someone else life flash past.

Kou would always laugh when Kenji would throw vegetables down his pants in an attempt to finish his dinner. He would smile fondly when the mother kissed him when he left for the school. He would frown when the older and younger brother of Kenji received more attention than him. And he cried when both the parents died leaving him in the hands of the older brother. Whatever Kenji felt, Kou did too _because he had become part of Kenji_.

The death of his parents was the last straw for Kenji and after the funeral, Kenji shut himself down. He was hurting deep inside and pushed any comforts his brothers tried to give him. He made no attempts to talk with them so they decided to leave him alone in his own thoughts. Unsure, they hoped he would recover from his misery. All of them, including Kenji himself, knew Kenji had fallen into depression but none of them he had fallen in too deep. Wearing a constant blank face as his mask, he used isolation as a shield from the outside world. The sky had turn grey in his eyes, the flowers shed their petals in his footsteps, and the sun seemed to mock him with their constant brightness. All of his bottled up emotions wore him down constantly, tugging at his sanity each day. He needed distraction- _fast_.

At first, Kou had been happy when Kenji landed himself a job as a chef at a fancy restaurant. It meant a chance for Kenji to interact with others, open up, throw himself into the social life, get a girlfriend, and all that jazz.

NOT.

Apparently, Kenji used it as an excuse to fend off invitations from his brothers who wanted to see him and become even more isolated. Rather than throwing himself into being social, he threw himself into mastering every recipe in the menu, perfecting each cuisine on the table. Add a little seasoning here and there to spice up the soup, dry the vegetables a bit more for the crunch, fry the chicken less for that soft, tender bite, etc. You name it, he got it. The restaurant became even more popular and the business was booming thanks to Kenji (slow clapping from Kou). Respect was earned from the staff members and they couldn't deny his culinary skills. The members tried to get close with Kenji only to receive a blank stare from him. Talk about turning over a new leaf, Kou wanted to pull out all of his hair because Kenji's social life was worse than that Uchiha brat he read about on manga. Despite the knowledge Kou held about the Naruto world, some of it had faded away due to time but the basic information remains fresh on Kou's mind because it was like a reminder everyday when he saw the Hokage mountain through Kenji. However, that was not important right now. What was important right now was the fact that Kenji was too deep in his self-pity to notice the outside world. But Kou knew that he wasn't in any way, shape, or form to even help Kenji a bit. After all, Kou was just a guy who just watches Kenji's life.

So at age 18, Kenji was still single despite being a fine young man with long thick brown hair reaching his waist (Kou's hands were itching to braid that long hair, after all, being a hairdresser in his past life made it a requirement to stay groomed and neat). The days spent holed up left him pale and slender. And all of the burden Kenji carried left him emotionless and grumpy. Each time the scenes changed, it was the same boring routine. Eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat. Then finally, Kou saw a change.

At the night of celebration for the sealing of the fox demon(the fox was innocent, that Kou knew), Kenji passed by the dumpster when a flash of orange left him dazed. The runner and Kenji made eye contact for a millisecond before he was gone with the wind. Standing still, a mob passed by him shouting and cursing. Suddenly, Kou knew with a dreaded feeling who that person being chased was- Naruto. He wanted to do something, but Kenji remained impassive. Shouting, Kou tried to get words of desperation across but shouting at a flat screen didn't do anything. Finally, he saw Kenji expression change when he realized that the mob intentions were to hurt the young boy. Hearing cries of agony caused Kenji to run faster than he ever had in his whole life. Pushing through the crowd, he wrapped his arms around the bruised and bloodied Naruto, protecting him from the lash of the mob. The mob stilled for a moment before continuing to rain wooden sticks, metal, and broken shards of glass(?!) upon Kenji's back urging him to let the demon brat go. But Kenji held still and Kou watched in horror as the edges of the flat screen faded away quickly. The last vision was of masked men, _Anbu thank god thought Kou_ , before the screen flickered shut. Only then did Kou realized someone sat beside him.

A child form of Kenji stared in awe at Kou. Quickly, Kou scrambled to his feet and felt his back hit the screen wall.

"Hey ojii-san!(Here, Kou's eyebrows started to twitch) What are you doing here?" exclaimed Kenji.

"Boy, I could say the same for you" replied Kou wryly. His eyes widen when he suddenly noticed that Kenji's legs were starting to fade. Kenji looked at where Kou was looking and frowned.

"I guess my time is limited," murmured Kenji switching into a serious tone. "Listen ojii-san!(another eyebrow twitch) I gotta go back to my parents before they start getting mad at me for being late. So I did my part and now it's your turn!" At a steady pace, his legs finished fading and it was now closing in on his torso.

"Wha-what? What do you mean? And wait- hold up! Why did you start protecting that boy- I mean Naruto! Yeah, why did you? I mean you never met him so..." rambled Kou as he watched in horror as the fading started to spread upwards.

Instead of answering him, Kenji gave him a cryptic smile and pointed at his own eyes. He then pushed Kenji forward, as the screen suddenly shifted into quicksand, pulling him deeper into god knows where.

"Please," said Kenji gently. "Take care of Naruto."

The last thing Kou saw was Kenji's sad smile as his face faded away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Waking up to the birds chirping and the sunshine was a beautiful way to wake up for the perfect day. Not when you're in a wrong body one though. If one were to cross Konoha Hospital and glance up towards the windows, one would see a brunette by the name of "Kenji" mulling over his existence. That's right, Kou was having existential crisis despite being over 100 years old if you also include the time he watched all of Kenji's life. Kou knew he was now in a different body, he probably overtook it when he was being pushed into the screen by Kenji himself. But it still felt weird being in someone else body. It was like invading their privacy although it was now his given the fact that Kenji was now gone.

Alright, thought Kou. I got this, I am now Kenji- the best chef at _Konoha's Castle,_ the finest high class restaurant for the elites of Konoha. _BUT HOW WILL I RECREATE THE TASTE OF HIS FOOD?!_ thought Kou. Watching someone else cook was different than _doing_ it. So with that, Kenji used his 18 years worth of watching Kenji's life to recreate the movements Kenji used when cooking. Drizzle a light amount of olive oil into the pan, twist the pan into circular motion to allow oil to spread, and woah, _I got this!_

Grinning like a maniac, Kou did not notice the entrance of the Hokage, Naruto, and an Anbu standing near the door with a bemused expression as they looked at Kou's wild gesture.

"To make sukiyaki, combine primary ingredients and chop, chop, chop the shungiku!" murmured Kou as he made a chopping motion.

"Ahem!" coughed the Hokage lightly to get Kou's attention. At this, Kou paused midway through his chopping motion and a light blush bloomed upon his cheeks when he noticed the audience. "I see that a professional chef never forgets his job even when resting. Ah yes, Konoha thanks citizens like you for their hard work."

"Oh um...thank you." said Kou sheepishly as he gave a nervous smile and quickly look down letting his long hair cover most of his face.

"Now I'm sure little Naruto has something to say to you." With that, the Hokage gently nudged Naruto forward who was before hiding behind the Hokage robes and now standing with his head bowed and downtrodden eyes.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and... thanks for saving me back then." Quickly, Naruto glanced up for a second and looked down again at the floor. But that second was enough for Kou to register Kenji's actions. When Kenji pointed at his own eyes, he meant that both Naruto and himself were alike in the fact that both were lonely. Naruto's eyes was like an endless ocean of mistrust and contain loneliness similar to Kenji's eyes. Desperation hang dimly around the eyes yet there was a hint of...hope?

"Well Kenji-"started the Hokage.

"Oh please, call me Kou." Kou knew it was rude to interrupt the Hokage but he was Kou, not Kenji despite what his body might suggest.

"Well Kou," continued the Hokage smoothly, as if he hadn't been interrupted by a certain brunette. "What you did back then was brave but foolhardy. I am in no position to criticize you since you saved Naruto's life but you have been unconscious for two days and you need to stay three more days in the hospital for your injuries. As a form of gratitude, I have paid for all of your hospital bills and informed the owner of where you worked about your current conditions. They have agreed to give you a paid leave considering the situation and sent you some fruits and flowers and told you to get well. Once again, thank you for saving Naruto and farewell."

The Anbu, Hokage, and Naruto then proceed to leave the hospital while Kou sat dazed trying to soak all of the information and the fact that he had just seen canon characters. Okay, he shouldn't call them characters anymore since this is now REAL LIFE. Oh yeah, Kou was in a world of fire breathing ninjas where abnormality is normal. Could this day get any crazier?

Apparently yes it could, thought Kou when he saw the various fruits and flowers sitting on the table near his bed. Despite the fact that Kenji was a cold-faced person who barely interacted with his staff members, they still cared for him and even sent a 'Get-Well!' card with many signatures from the workers. Kou felt touched, this was more than what people would do back in his world, usually they would sent a text and that's that. Feeling tears prick the corners of his eyes, he rapidly blinked to not let the tears down. He detested how he cried easily but this form of affection touched his heart and he be damned if he said he didn't appreciate it. The paid leave was just an extra bonus and Kou was thankful for the consideration of the Hokage and his co-workers.

As he tried to stretch his back, he let out a yelp when he felt a sharp pain pierced his back. Quickly, a nurse with a black bun came running in and seeing Kou's state made her shake her head. "Mister, please refrain from doing any activities that involves your back. It would only open the stitches and cause more problems for your back." She added 2 more pillows to his back so that he could sit up properly. Well this wasn't going to be fun, **at all.**

...

Walking out of Konoha hospital was breath-taking. He could see, smell, hear the bustle of everyday people as they went on with their life. It was so different from just seeing it through Kenji's vision. It was like giving a blind man his vision, the deaf his hearing, the weak their protection. He took of his sandals and walked barefoot across the pavement to his house. It probably looked weird to outsiders but feeling the hard cement beneath him was another evidence saying that yes, Kou was really alive and not dreaming. This was another perk of being old, you are easily affected by small things. Wiggling his toes, he felt tiny pebbles scrape by his foot but he didn't mind. It was just another reminder that he was living and for that, he was glad. Recalling on his memory, he easily found the way to Kenji- sorry, _his_ home. He gave one last look at his surroundings that were houses with contrasting colors of bold and neutral, the vast oceanic sky littered with tiny puffs of clouds, the shadows that linger waiting for the sunset to stretch, and thought that maybe, life wouldn't be bad being Kenji if it meant seeing Konohagakure like this.

...

First thing first, Kou needed a new hairstyle. He was okay with the long brown hair but he was not okay with letting it drape over his face like Kenji usually would. Being a hairdresser in his past life meant he was more than eligible to make major changes to his own appearance. When he couldn't find any shears lying around the house, Kou settle for regular scissors. Using the brush, he twisted hairs that cover his face into a single strand and cut it right below his cheekbones. Since he had a slender face, it would look better if there were layers to frame it. He then part the middle of his bangs and combed through the rest of his hair. Deciding to play around, Kou decided to fishtail braid the remaining hair into two pieces letting it hang in front of him as he added a little bit of water to the tips of his bangs to straighten it. Overall, he looked good. And his baby face only added to the cuteness. Hehehe, Kou was going to have so much fun confusing people of his gender. But then there was his clothes and the wardrobe of boringness. All of Kenji's clothes were either black, gray, beige, and white. BORING! Kou needed a wardrobe change but how was he going to obtain it? Looking guilty at the piggybank that was hidden under the bed, he fished it out and took money from it while murmuring," Your fashion sense shall not die in vain Kenji, you have my word." Thus, Kou settle for a short sleeve beige shirt and a short, baggy black pants. Stuffing all the money into a gray wallet, he placed it inside the pockets of his pants and headed out for the markets of Konoha!

As soon as Kou stepped outside, some of the men kept staring at him like they never saw him before. Well, that can be considered true since Kenji always hid behind his long locks. Add to fact that almost everyone in that block knew each other and now there was someone who they never seen before. Yeah, that was bound to give him few glances here and there. Ignoring those looks, Kou went about the market with uncontrolled glee and bought an oversized white night gown that had an elaborate design on the top giving it a fancy look, pants and shirts of various colors, comfortable but chic sweaters, and hair ties with bows attached because black hair ties were boring. Other than clothes, Kou also bought groceries because apparently, Kenji had nonexistence appetite and the kitchen was looking lonely. So Kou was left with many, many, many bags to carry and he was starting to regret buying so much and spending all of his money.

The money spent was covered with the salary he earned at the restaurant. It took a week for him to settle down with his co-workers and all of them were surprised at the small changes. For one, Kou seemed to be more friendlier but was still the quiet person. Second, the food he made tasted different, more simpler, and better. The before Kenji would make elaborate food that tasted good but this Kou made food that tasted great. The difference? It was a secret ingredient that he added called "love". Call him cheesy but Kou actually wanted to make food that left the customers satisfied and give them temporary happiness. Also, Kou made everyone in the restaurant call him "Kou" and not his old name "Kenji" because he wanted to be seen as himself. Not someone that replaced someone else life. The week was long enough for the Anbu that trailed after Kou to regard him as an individual with no threat. Now Kou wasn't stupid, a century worth of his life knew it was in human's nature to be suspicious and given the fact that the Hokage didn't question Kou's motives meant that he was spying on Kou. So Kou acted as normal as he could hoping he didn't appear out of the ordinary.

After Kou fixed himself some dinner, he had some leftovers that he left on the table. Staring at the twinkling stars outside, Kou thought it would be pity if he didn't go out for walk on such a beautiful night. Grabbing one of his sweaters that he bought in the market, he went outside. The crisp, cool night air was a refreshing change of surroundings from his hot, humid kitchen. Feeling blessed to be alive at this age and time, he noted how different the night sky was here than back then in his world where it was often cloudy and all of the pollution covered any stars left in the sky. For that, Kou was grateful. Walking past a dumpster (with hands covering both of his nostrils because holy crap, it smelled) Kou stopped walking midway when he realized that a certain blondie was sleeping in the alleyway right next to a trash can. The first thing that popped up in Kou's head was,'Who is looking after him?'. Grimacing when he realized that Naruto's caretakers might not give two batshits about his well-being, Kou went back home with a heavy heart. He certainly was not going to help Naruto, oh no he won't, there was a reason his life motto was 'No pain, no gain'. Naruto needed loneliness to start his dream of being a Hokage but wasn't it cruel to leave him there? Alone? And helpless? And most likely starved too. But Kou had told himself that he wasn't going to interact with any important people otherwise it might affect the plot. Naruto had to deal with this himself, and he had to learn the meaning of pain if he wanted to become who he should be. The motto rang strongly across Kou's mind as he ignored Naruto's body shivering in the cold.

So much for that motto, thought Kou as he carried the leftovers of his food placed into a bag. His guilt and conscious won out in the end and he found himself sneaking out of the house wearing his fancy schmancy pale night gown and an otafuku mask. Now this would scare the shit out of anyone that saw but Kou made sure he was discreet about it and hid in the shadows so that no one saw him. This would prevent him from interacting personally with Naruto so Naruto wouldn't recognize him. Upon arriving at the dumpster, Kou lightly placed the bag down in front of Naruto and was going to make his getaway when Naruto woke up.

"Uh?...You left me with this food?...Who are you?" asked Naruto as he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes and stare wistfully at the food inside the bag like he couldn't believe he was actually getting food, much less from a stranger.

Caught red-handed, Kou thought for a minute before running off into the darkness,"I am Okame, the _yōkai_ for distressed children."


End file.
